Please Remember
by Lynnlee22
Summary: Shayne/Dinah


**_When will I see you again?  
You left with no goodbye, not a single word was said  
No final kiss to seal anything  
I had no idea of the state we were in_**

He groaned as his eyes slowly opened. Sunlight streamed in through the curtains as the cheerful brightness seemed to mock him. His arm stretched out across the empty expanse of bed, the clinking sound of discarded bottles a reminder of his only companions. Each day came and went without permission. Each week and month seemed to blur into the next. Visits with Henry were the only thing that gave him the slightest bit of joy and even that was fleeting. He couldn't look and him without thinking of her, without realizing that this beautiful boy would never be in his life without her, without knowing that she was gone because she risked everything for him – for them.

She'd risked everything. Her life, her reputation, her freedom and in return, he'd criticized her, judged her, blamed her. But he'd never imagined she'd be gone. It had seemed like such a betrayal at the time. She'd lied to him but more than that, she hadn't trusted him enough to tell him the truth. It was anger. It was disbelief. It was hurt. But it was rash, unprocessed emotion. He needed time to think, to sit with it, to understand. And in the time it took him to do that, she vanished.

Gone without a word. Without a conversation. Without a goodbye. It broke him to find the rings, to know she'd been here, in this room, knowing what she was about to do. How could she simply walk away? He'd gone to her mother, to her brother, to Remy. They couldn't, or wouldn't, tell him where she was. They'd only say she'd seemed off the last time they'd spoken.

'Off'. Walking away from him, from their life together, from the promises they'd made mere hours ago had simply rendered her 'off'. Nothing made sense and he didn't think it ever would again.

He bit down on the inside of his lip as he heard the sound of his cell phone vibrating on the beside table.

"Dad," he mumbled as he brought the phone to his ear. The same sigh of relief he always heard echoed through the phone. His father had taken to calling him virtually every morning since the incident.

It had been a morning like every other since she'd gone away. The day had dawned and brought with it the realization that he was alone, that a part of him was, and always would be, missing. He'd stumbled out the door to wait for the car he'd called, well aware he was still far too drunk to be driving anywhere. It really had come out of nowhere – even if his father still refused to believe him.

_"__Son," he'd said to him as he sat beside the hospital bed, "You can be honest with me about this. I know how hard it's been for you since Dinah left. I know this is probably bringing back everything that happened with Lara and …" _

_"__That's not what this is, Dad. I wasn't trying to kill myself. I didn't step out in front of that car. I told you. It was an accident. If I'd been trying to kill myself, I would have gotten behind the wheel and driven myself into a damn tree." _

As he sat here now and listened to his father drone on and on about nothing, he wondered if the tree would have been easier.

**_When was the last time you thought of me?  
Or have you completely erased me from your memories?  
I often think about where I went wrong  
The more I do, the less I know_**

"You okay? You really look like you're hurting?"

"Mallet!" She relaxed a bit as he covered the distance of the room in a few quick strides. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I know," he said softly. "You look like you're really uncomfortable. You need me to get you anything?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm fine. But thanks for checking." She felt the all too familiar pressure behind her eyes and she willed herself to stop. "Thanks for always checking."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I mean … I think I'm just tired of being in this bed. My back gets so sore and I just wish I could get up and go for a walk, see outside. Feels kind of like I'm in prison." She closed her eyes at the use of the analogy. "Not that I'm … I mean …"

He slid closer to her and gently moved behind her back, his hands softly kneading at the tightened muscles. "It's okay," he assured her. "I know what you mean. I know it's been tough being stuck in here like this, but it's gonna be worth it. You know that, right?"

She drew in a deep breath as his hand hit precisely the right spot. "Right," she smiled. Her hand ran over her taut belly. "Totally worth it. I'd do absolutely anything for this little girl. These months of bedrest, every moment of it … a hundred times over."

"I know you would." He let her lean back against him for a moment before he spoke again. "I just want you to know that I know this is tough for you."

"It is, but you're right. It's all going to be well worth it when I get to hold her in my arms and know that she's healthy and …"

"That's not what I'm talking about."

She felt her breath catch. "Oh."

"I can see it in your eyes sometimes. I know the closer it gets, the harder it is not to think about it, about him." He shifted a bit to look into her eyes. "You can talk to me about it. I want you to."

"I'm not sure what you want me to say." Her voice betrayed her raw emotion. "Of course I think about it. It's impossible not to think about it. I feel her move and I think about how much he's missing already. I think about how much he went through when he found out about Henry and I wonder if what I'm doing is somehow even worse."

"You know I'll support whatever you decide to do. If you want to call him and …"

"Mallet," She leaned into his arms and let him hold her. "I know you will. You always have. You have been more than I could have ever hoped for through all of this. I wouldn't have made it without you."

"Yes you would have. You're Dinah. You would have been just fine. I just don't want you to feel like there's things you can't say to me. It's okay to miss him. It's okay to be angry. It's okay be confused. It's okay to be whatever you are. Just don't shut me out because you think it's easier for me. I know that we'll always love each other, but I'm not an idiot."

"I've never doubted that you would be here for me, Mallet and I don't doubt that you will be here for this baby. I'm just … it's just hard. It's hard to know I won't get to share any of this with him."

He nodded. "Have you changed your mind about telling him?"

"If I knew for sure what would happen, I'd tell him in a second, but I'm scared. I'm scared that someone would find out and I'd end up in jail and I can't risk that. I love this little girl too much to risk losing the chance to be her mom."

**_Oh, I gave you the space so you could breathe  
I kept my distance so you would be free  
In hope that you find the missing piece  
To bring you back to me_**

He grabbed the pillow and held it tight against his head and yet the noise persisted. "Damn it," he hissed and blindly reached for phone.

"Dad, for God's sakes it's not even 6 am yet. You've got to stop …"

"Shayne."

The familiar voice was immediately sobering and he sat straight up in the bed. "M-Mallet? Mallet, is that you?"

"It is. I … Are you somewhere you can talk … alone?"

Shayne felt his heart beat faster, his mouth instantly drying. "Yeah, I'm in my room. What's going on? Where are you? Marina said you went on some assignment for the agency and she doesn't know where you are or how to contact you or …"

"That's not important right now. I need you to listen to me." He drew in a deep breath. This was either the most selfless thing he'd ever done or the worst mistake he'd ever make. "If I ask you something, can I trust you to tell me the truth?"

Shayne's mind raced. What truth would Mallet possibly need from him. "I guess it depends on what you want to know. What's this about?"

"It's about Dinah, man."

The phone nearly fell from his hand. "Dinah? You know something about Dinah? What the hell do you know about her?" He was on his feet now, every muscle of his body tight with stress.

"I don't have time to answer your questions. I just need to know if you'd keep her safe, if you knew where she was, would you keep her safe?"

"I …" He ran his hand over the stubble on his face. "I always would have. I told her that, damnit! I told her I would have never let her go to jail. I would have protected her."

It wasn't the words that mattered. It was the sound of his voice, the desperation he recognized, the unbridled desperation that only the love of that woman could drive a man to. "Alright," he said quickly. "I'm going to need you to get on the first flight out of Springfield tonight."

**_Why don't you remember, don't you remember?  
The reason you loved me before  
Baby please remember me once more  
When will I see you again?_**

"You're doing great." He stroked her hair gently as he took the cup of ice chips from her hand and sat them down on the table beside her.

"Yeah," she puffed. "You know the other day when I said my back was sore … I would give anything to feel like that again." Her head feel back against the pillow in sheer exhaustion. "I don't understand why she's taking so long."

"She's just taking her time, that's all. It's not a bad thing."

She shot him a look. "Says who?"

He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "It gives me time to get your present ready."

Even in the midst of pain her eyes twinkled a bit. "A present?"

"Yeah, you know, I think they call it a push present, right?"

"Yeah, but you didn't have to do anything. My God Mallet, you're here and that's more than I could have ever asked from anyone. What you're doing for me, what you've done, what you're willing to do for both of us …"

The words felt especially painful as he listened to them now. It would all be over before he knew it. "I loved every moment of this," he said quietly. "This was a gift for me, getting to spend this time with you, getting to remember the way it was, getting to experience the way it could have been. It was everything I ever could have wished for."

She stared at him for a moment. "You're saying that like you think it's ending or something. I've got news for you buddy, we've got a lot more ahead of us." She hissed as another contraction seared through her.

He held her hand as he watched her cringe and breathe through the pain. "Yeah," he said softly, his attention now moving to the slightly opening door across the room. He watched him as he stepped inside, his eyes wide in shock for only seconds before almost instantly glossing over with tears.

"I think it's …" Her eyes opened as the pain passed. "That one wa …"

It was surreal. Stillness and silence. A shaky breath, a haggard sigh, the sound of hesitant and then hurried footsteps. And then sobs.

* * *

The wall was cool behind his back as he watched them.

"What are you doing here?" she managed, the sobs nearly choking her already restrained lungs.

"Mallet called me," Shayne said simply. "But he didn't tell me this." He was still awestruck as he let his hand rest on her belly. His eyes fell on the monitor strapped to her side. "Is everything okay?" he asked, his eyes suddenly filled with worry.

Her hand covered his and she nodded. "Yeah, it's just a precaution. I went into preterm labor a couple of months ago and I've been on bedrest and I'm still only 36 weeks so they're just keeping an eye on things since I've been in labor for a while."

"But the baby's okay and you're okay?" He turned turn to look at Mallet for confirmation.

"She's fine and the baby's doing great. She's been at this about 20 hours now so they want to keep an eye on the baby's heartbeat just to be safe. If they start seeing anything out of the ordinary, they'll do a C-section, but for right now, everything looks good."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here, but I …"

"You didn't know." She let her head drop. "I couldn't tell you Shayne. I was so afraid that someone would find out and I would end up in jail and I couldn't risk losing the chance to …" Tears threatened to overtake her again and she stopped.

"Shhh … I know. I get it. You were protecting our baby. That's what good mother would do. You love her. You would do anything to protect. I get that. That's how I always felt about you. It's how I still feel."

Her eyes shot up to meet his. "You do?"

"I never stopped but you were gone and I had no idea how to find you. I asked your mother, your brother, Remy and …"

"They didn't know. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want them to have to lie."

"If I'd known where you were, I would have been here the next day. I would have held you and promised you the same thing I promised you the day the day you told me the truth. I'll do whatever it takes to protect you … both of you."

"It's not going to be easy. I can't go home. We can't go home."

"Let me work on that." Mallet's words rang out through the room.

"What?" Dinah's voice trembled. "Mallet, I don't want you to have to do anything more than you've already done. I mean, you've given up so much to help me and I can't possibly ask you to …"

"Dinah's right man. You've done so much and I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate the fact that you were here for her when I couldn't be. I know you and I haven't always seen eye to eye, but …"

"You didn't ask me," he said quickly. "I offered and besides, it's the right thing to do. I'll go back to town and I'll talk to Frank. I'll explain the situation and I'll try to get the charges dismissed. The fact of the matter is, Springfield is my home too even when I wasn't sure I would ever have one."

"Well, if we were ever able to go back," she said quietly, "I certainly would hope you'd be there." She held out for her hand for him to come closer to her.

"You're gonna be just fine without me here. Shayne's gonna take great care of you and that little girl you've got there. I'm certain of that. I never would have made that call if I wasn't."

Dinah locked eyes with Shayne for a moment. "I might be fine," she said, "but your goddaughter will need you."

"Goddaughter? You want me to be her godfather?"

"Technically I guess Shayne and I should have talked about it, but …"

"I can't think of anyone better," Shayne said earnestly as he joined them. "You've stepped in when I couldn't. You've loved them both when I wasn't around. I wouldn't have handpicked anyone else."

"Okay everyone." The doctor stepped into the room. "Let me just see how things are going here." She smiled as she stood up and pulled the sheet back down. "Ready for baby?"

Dinah pushed herself up a bit. "Really? It's time?"

"It's time," the doctor said cheerfully.

Mallet reached over and squeezed her hand. "Everything's gonna be fine," he said softly. "I'll be right outside."

Shayne watched as he headed out the door. He leaned down and lightly brushed his lips against hers. "He's right, you know. As long as we're together," He placed his hand on her stomach and smiled, "as long as we're all together, everything is going to be fine."

**The End**


End file.
